Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai

Who this day is for

This day is for a third to sixth trip. Stops are less famous and still easy to reach. Some Japanese or cash may be needed.

Do this on a Monday or a Tuesday. Eels Kabuto is closed on Sunday and on national holidays. Deathmatch in Hell has no shop page for its closed days, and the listings disagree, so Sunday, Thursday, and holidays are a poor bet for that bar. Some listings say many shops inside Nakano Broadway close on Wednesday. The building's pages and GO TOKYO do not. Check the shop. Check which observatory is open that morning. The South tower is closed the 1st and 3rd Tuesday. The North tower is closed the 2nd and 4th Monday.

Breakfast is BERG, inside the station. Then the observatories. Lunch is Fuunji, before the soup sells out. The afternoon is Nakano Broadway, on the JC JR Chuo Line, and back again. Early dinner is Eels Kabuto in Omoide Yokocho, which closes at 20:00 and draws a queue. Hanazono Shrine is the dusk stop, beside Golden Gai. The evening is Albatross G from 19:00, then Deathmatch in Hell, then Bar Skavla.

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Breakfast

Breakfast: BERG, Beer and Cafe Berg, Lumine Est Shinjuku B1, at 3-38-1 Shinjuku. Lumine lists 7:00–23:00 every day. The Gurunavi shop page lists the same hours, last order 22:30, drink last order 22:50, no fixed closed day, and irregular closures. Lumine's reservation tag is not active, and the Gurunavi page says reservations are not taken. Lumine lists 27 seats. The Gurunavi page lists 45. This day uses Lumine for the seat count. It is a 1-minute walk from the East Exit of JR Shinjuku. Neither page lists a separate morning-set window, an English menu, or a card brand. Blogs claim cards and IC. These two pages do not, so this day does not repeat that claim.

Late alternate: Tajimaya Coffee House, cloth-filter coffee at 1-2-6 Nishi-Shinjuku, in Omoide Yokocho. The association page, dated March 2021, lists 10:00–23:00, last order 22:30, open every day. Cash and electronic payment. Card brands are not named. It opens at 10:00, so it is not an early table. The page does not list an English menu.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Observatories

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Observatories are in Building No. 1, at 2-8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku. This day follows the finance bureau page. GO TOKYO still prints one 9:30–22:00 window and a last entry of 21:30, and it does not spell out the North tower's shorter day.

South is open 9:30–22:00, last entry 30 minutes before close, and closed the 1st and 3rd Tuesday. North is open 9:30–17:30, and until 22:00 when South is closed. A summary on the same page lists South entry until 21:30 and North entry until 17:00, and North entry until 21:30 when South is closed. That matches a last entry 30 minutes before those closes. If the closed day is a holiday, that observatory opens and the next day is closed instead. Both are closed 29–31 December, 2 January, and 3 January, and on building inspection days. The first Sunday of March, for the Tokyo Marathon, entry starts around 11:00. Bad weather can close them at short notice. The observatory phone is 03-5320-7890, weekdays 10:00–17:00, Japanese only.

No reservations. Tripods are not allowed. The page says the wait is often 20–30 minutes, and that it varies. The bureau page lists entry as free. GO TOKYO also lists the visit as free. GO TOKYO gives a 1-minute walk from Exit A4 at Tochomae on the E Toei Oedo Line. The bureau page does not publish a walk time. GO TOKYO lists volunteer guides on the South deck, in English, Korean, and Chinese, from 10:00 to 15:00, about 20 minutes, with no booking in advance. Tours do not run when South is closed, on inspection days, or over the year-end holidays. That guide page does not itself say the deck tour is free, so this day does not call it free.

Nakano Broadway

Nakano Broadway is at 5-52-15 Nakano. The building's access page gives a 5-minute walk from the north exit of JR Nakano and of Nakano on the T Tozai Line. It does not list hours. GO TOKYO lists about 10:00–20:00, varying by store, and closure of the whole building on the third Wednesday of February. GO TOKYO also gives a 5-minute walk from Nakano Station on the JC JR Chuo Line. English is that GO TOKYO page. This is not one paid counter. Some listings say many shops close on Wednesday. The building's pages and GO TOKYO do not. Check the shop.

Hanazono Shrine

Hanazono Shrine is at 5-17-3 Shinjuku. The access page gives a 0-minute walk from Exit E2 at Shinjuku-sanchome on the M Marunouchi Line, the F Fukutoshin Line, and the Toei Shinjuku Line. It gives a 7-minute walk from the East Exit of JR, Odakyu, and Keio Shinjuku. The access page does not publish hours for the grounds. This day does not invent them. The shrine's links page lists an outdoor antique market on most Sundays, from sunrise to sunset, when it does not overlap a shrine event. The shrine pages are in Japanese. GO TOKYO's English Shinjuku tour names the shrine. This is not a paid stop.

Golden Gai

Golden Gai is at 1-1-6 Kabukicho. The association's English page is the etiquette for the evening. Most bars add a seat or snack charge, separate from the drink. More bars waive it for visitors from overseas. Confirm the charge before you sit. This post does not print a yen figure for it. Come in groups of two or three, and ask before you go in. Some bars are for regulars only. When the room fills, give up the seat. Photos and video need permission. Smoking, drinking, and lingering in the alleys are prohibited.

The association says more than 280 bars. Shinjuku tourism says more than 200. This day uses the association. Each shop sets its own hours. Shinjuku tourism gives a 5-minute walk from JR Shinjuku, a 5-minute walk from Shinjuku-sanchome on the F Fukutoshin Line, and a 5-minute walk from Shinjuku-sanchome on the Toei Shinjuku Line. GO TOKYO also gives 5 minutes from Shinjuku Station and says most bars open around 20:00. This is not one paid counter.

Albatross G is at 1-1-7 Kabukicho, Golden Gai 5th street. The shop page lists 19:00–05:00 every day. The page is in Japanese and English. It does not state a floor, a seat count, a smoking rule, a cover, or how to pay. Listings that are not the shop disagree on cash versus contactless, and they describe a seat charge that includes a snack. Confirm the charge and the payment at the door. This post does not print a yen figure.

Deathmatch in Hell is at 1-1-8 Kabukicho, on the 3rd street. No shop page answered on 2026-10-05. Listings that are not the bar put the hours near 20:00–03:00 and usually close it on Thursday and Sunday. Another older note closed it on Sunday and holidays. Hours, closed days, cash, English, and whether there is a seat charge are unconfirmed. Ask at the door.

Bar Skavla is at 1-1-6 Kabukicho. It is a standing bar. The current site says there is a cover charge for each guest. Confirm it at the door. This post does not print a yen figure. The older site lists 15:00–05:00 and does not name a closed day. The current site does not publish hours, so treat the closed day as unknown. The older site says English is fine, smoking is allowed, and Wi-Fi is free. The current menu is in English and Japanese. Neither site says how to pay. Ask.

Getting between stops

The route list. Walks with no published duration say "a short walk". The JR Chuo rides show the line badge and the stations, and do not invent a minute count. Omoide Yokocho is at the west exit. Hanazono Shrine and Golden Gai are toward Kabukicho. No source publishes a duration for that crossing.

1. BERG to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Observatories: a short walk.
2. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Observatories to Fuunji: a short walk.
3. Fuunji to Nakano Broadway: JC JR Chuo Line. Shinjuku to Nakano.
4. Nakano Broadway to Eels Kabuto: JC JR Chuo Line. Nakano to Shinjuku.
5. Eels Kabuto to Hanazono Shrine: a short walk.
6. Hanazono Shrine to Albatross G: a short walk.
7. Albatross G to Deathmatch in Hell: a short walk.
8. Deathmatch in Hell to Bar Skavla: a short walk.

Lunch

Lunch: Fuunji, the Shinjuku main shop, at Hokuto Daiichi Building 1F, 2-14-3 Yoyogi. The address is in Shibuya City, on the south side of Shinjuku. Open 11:00–15:00 and 17:00–21:00 every day, and it closes when the soup sells out. Fifteen counter seats. Non-smoking. No reservations. The site describes a queue, so be there before 11:00. It is a 5-minute walk from the South Exit of JR Shinjuku, along Koshu-kaido, and a 1-minute walk from Exit 6 at Shinjuku on the Toei Shinjuku Line and the E Toei Oedo Line. A bowl on the menu runs from ¥950 to ¥1,300. The page does not mention a ticket machine, a card, or an English menu.

Alternate: Tempura Shinjuku Tsunahachi Main Store Annex, at TRES SHINJUKU 6F and B1F, 3-28-4 Shinjuku. The original main store closed on 31 May 2026 for a rebuild, with a new opening aimed at autumn 2028. The annex opened on 23 June 2026. Open 11:00–22:00, last order 21:00, every day except New Year. The lunch menu runs until 15:00, last order 15:00. The annex page lists a lunch average of ¥2,500 and a dinner average of ¥5,000. Credit cards are accepted. Brands are not listed. Phone 03-5315-0320 for a reservation. The page also links a web form. It is a 3-minute walk from Shinjuku-sanchome on the M Marunouchi Line, a 3-minute walk from Shinjuku-sanchome on the F Fukutoshin Line, and a 5-minute walk from the East ticket gate at JR Shinjuku. The company publishes an English menu. The English page still prints a Nakano address, so use the annex page and confirm the menu when you book.

Dinner

Omoide Yokocho is the lane at the west exit. The association's April 2021 note says many shops still took only cash. Some add a table charge, some ask for one food and one drink, and some set a time limit. Ask before you sit. Smoking in the lane is prohibited, except inside a shop that allows it. Shinjuku tourism gives a 1-minute walk from JR, Odakyu, and Keio Shinjuku. GO TOKYO gives 2 minutes and also names the M Marunouchi Line. This day does not pick one.

Dinner: Eels Kabuto, at 1-2-11 Nishi-Shinjuku. The association listing, dated March 2021, says 13:00–20:00, closed Sundays and national holidays, 11 seats, cash only. Tabelog lists Saturday from 12:00 and does not list holidays as closed. This day follows the association. Tabelog says reservations are not taken. The association page does not say. The association's April 2021 note says the shop serves one run of eel skewers, limits each person to three alcoholic drinks, and that people queue. Come in the late afternoon, before the 20:00 close. The shop page does not publish a walk time. The page does not list an English menu.

Alternate: Torien, yakitori at 1-2-4 Nishi-Shinjuku. The association page, dated March 2021, lists 11:30–23:30 every day. Cash, credit cards, electronic payment, and QR. Card brands are not named. It is a large room, about 200 seats, and an easier first stop in the lane. On a Sunday or a holiday, when Eels Kabuto is closed, use Torien. The page does not list an English menu.

Sources

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government, observatories. Observatory opening information, closures and access.
• Fuunji. The Shinjuku restaurant recommendation and official shop information.